NAFTA Negotiations on Track But Not Done

The White House recently announced that the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to a new NAFTA deal. An agreement has not been made with Canada and Congress must approve any pact.

Five labor leaders, including IAM International President Bob Martinez, released a statement on the news:

“NAFTA has had a devastating impact on workers for more than 25 years. We are aggressively engaged in pursuing an agreement that works for working people in all three countries, and we are not done yet. There is more work that needs to be done to deliver the needed, real solutions to NAFTA’s deeply ingrained flaws.

“Any new deal must raise wages, ensure workers’ rights and freedoms, reduce outsourcing and put the interests of working families first in all three countries. And working people must be able to review the full and final text and have the confidence not only in the terms of the deal, but its implementation, monitoring and enforcement. We remain committed to working with the administration to get NAFTA right. Our members’ jobs depend on it. But, as always, the devil is in the details.”

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Steelworkers International President Leo Girard, UAW President Gary Jones and CWA President Chris Shelton joined Martinez in issuing the statement.